


Eternal Victory

by silvertaels



Series: let my ships rise 2k17 [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, I don't even know the ship name, Light Angst, M/M, Smut, doil, doyoung/taeil rise 2k17, this ship needs more love tbh, yuta cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:46:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvertaels/pseuds/silvertaels
Summary: Dongyoung likes games and competition. He wants to win. But there is just one person he can never win.





	Eternal Victory

 

"Hyung, you should dye your hair again too," Jaehyun offhandedly comments after Dongyoung complimented his new blonde look. "Y'know, the orange has almost completely faded off."

Dongyoung swallows his mouthful of food and slides a hand down his own hair, "I don't know, I'm actually liking this blonde. What else would be a good colour?"

Jaehyun contemplates as he imagines Dongyoung with hair of every colour. "Hmm. Since your skin is fair and you look better with warm tones, how about light brown?"

"Light brown?" Dongyoung thinks for a moment. _Light brown hair. Sounds familiar._ He sees fluffy light brown hair, on a guy with a relatively small build, with a familiar face- He nearly chokes on his rice, coughing, "Ew, no way. I don't wanna have the same hair colour as Moon Taeil."

Jaehyun snickers but still hands Dongyoung a napkin, "Bro, chill. Who said anything about Taeil-hyung?"

Dongyoung shakes his head, "I'm damn sure at least one person will accuse me of copying Taeil-hyung. You know, we're 'rivals' and all."

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, "You could have a competition on who suits light brown hair better. Who knows, you might actually win, hyung~" He raises his eyebrows and grins at Dongyoung, who just sticks his middle finger in Jaehyun's face unceremoniously. 

"Clearly I'll win. Why am I even rivals with that hyung? Like, he doesn't even say anything."

"Because he is actually good in things other than being noisy like you?"

Dongyoung closes his eyes and sighs dramatically, "I can't believe I raised a child who sides the outsiders! Goodbye, betrayer," he shakes his head and gets up to clear his tray, Jaehyun following behind him.

 

-

 

Dongyoung closes the door behind him and internally sighs at the pile of paper on the table. He definitely did not become the chairperson of the singing interest club to do paperwork. He should at least get paid for doing all this administrative work.

He starts from the easy ones, signing claim forms to submit to the office. At least it was less trouble than filling in the particulars of new members in an excel file.

Two knocks on the door distracts him from the receipts, and he looks up to see a familiar face.

"Oh, Sicheng-ah? What brings you here?" He first met the Chinese boy at the college's annual showcase last year, where Sicheng performed a martial arts-dance fusion item, which earned him a louder applause than any of the singers.

Sicheng gives Dongyoung a toothy smile, "Hyung! I want to learn singing."

Dongyoung returns Sicheng a fatherly smile. He pulls out an empty application form and hands it to Sicheng, "Sure! You can just fill up this form and join our sessions. You don't have to come every week, since we're just an interest club."

Dongyoung catches how Sicheng's smile falls as he scans through the form. "What is it? You're afraid of joining?" he gently probes.

Sicheng nods with a pout, "My singing is no good, others will surely laugh at me... Can you teach me a little bit first?"

"Of course it's no problem," Dongyoung reassures Sicheng by patting his arm, "but I thought you're Taeil-hyung's roommate? Did you ask him?"

"I asked him, but he told me to ask you because he doesn't know how to teach me."

Dongyoung raises an eyebrow at that, and can't help but smirk a little on the inside. Well, he found another thing that he's better than Taeil at. His phone vibrates loudly against the table, reminding him that he will have a meeting 15 minutes later, at 8pm. Great.

He turns back to Sicheng, "You know what, you can just join our club first and start coming when you feel confident, okay? As for teaching you, I'll drop you a text so we can arrange a time? I have a meeting soon, so sorry."

Sicheng grins widely and shakes Dongyoung's hand vigorously, "Okay! Thank you hyung!!"

Dongyoung files in Sicheng's application form, adding to the pile of undone paperwork. He sighs again as soon as Sicheng leaves, clearing as much of the pile as he can before the meeting.

 

-

 

Jaehyun sits down in the chair Sicheng sat in earlier, opposite Dongyoung. He rests his head on his hand and sighs, "You again. How many hours do I spend with you a day, hyung? You're almost like my girlfriend or something."

"Shut up, unless you want to do this for me," Dongyoung deadpans, not even looking up from his papers. And then he closes his pen and looks up. "Actually, you _should_  be doing this with me, Mr. Vice-Chairperson."

Jaehyun backs up, hands up in rejection, "My job is to plan events and communicate with the members, remember? Mr. Chairperson?"

Dongyoung rolls his eyes and keeps the files back in the cupboard. "Too much paperwork for a day. I think we need to recruit a secretary," he whines as he prepares the laptop for the meeting, "Like, which chairperson even has to take minutes for the meeting?!"

"Sheesh, hyung. I'll take the minutes, okay?" Jaehyun tries to appease Dongyoung, taking the laptop from him. Usually, Dongyoung would have insisted on doing it himself, but he trusts Jaehyun's capabilities, so he lets him do it.

"Should I write down 'recruiting a secretary'?"

Dongyoung shakes his head, "We should wait for Taeil-hyung to start the meeting proper. Speaking of which, he is about to be late if he doesn't appear-"

The door opens at that very moment and Taeil walks in, smiling at them. Mostly at Jaehyun, though. Dongyoung makes no eye contact with Taeil as he takes the seat beside Dongyoung, and speaks first, "Okay, we can start then. Jaehyun, why not you tell us about any feedback you've heard recently."

Jaehyun's eyes flick quickly between Taeil and Dongyoung. He clears his throat, "Um, okay. As more people have joined in this academic year, there has been feedback about the individual showcases at the end of each session being too stressful for some of them. They say that they like to sing, but being the center of attention is too nerve-wracking. Some others feel that they are not good enough. So perhaps we could change the format to a group showcase?"

Taeil nods in agreement, "I think that's a good idea, since we are an interest club and not a performance team. If that's the case then they can also explore more in terms of harmony, and maybe even _a cappella_."

"Sounds great, but I think we can leave the options open on whether they want to showcase alone or in a group," Dongyoung adds on. "Any more from your side?"

"The new semester is starting soon, I'm working on a club cohesion day and we need a performance item for the school's welcome ceremony when we come back from summer break. It's a great opportunity to attract more students to join us, so I was thinking we should send our best singers..." Jaehyun looks up hopefully at both Taeil and Dongyoung.

The two look at each other, Taeil with an unreadable expression. 

"That's not a problem, we can each prepare a song," Dongyoung answers.

Jaehyun smiles sheepishly, "I meant, like a duet..?"

"Us? Together?!" Dongyoung sputters while Taeil's expression shifts to a slightly amused one.

Jaehyun puts on his best puppy smile, "Heh heh, come on, hyung. What I have in mind is for the other members to perform the first half, who will be decided through an audition. As for the remaining half, our most amazing hyungs can wow the audience together! Even our members would look forward to it. No one has ever heard you two singing together, except maybe me."

There were times during their committee meetings where they casually sing together when going through song suggestions, but they have never worked on a song together seriously. Dongyoung thinks it could be a good idea, but the mere thought of practicing with Taeil _alone_ makes him uneasy.

Dongyoung is about to reject Jaehyun's idea, but Taeil beats him to it- and actually _agrees_ on his behalf.

"Sure, sounds good. I'm curious myself, too," Taeil gently smiles at Jaehyun, and Jaehyun gives him a thumbs up. "We can discuss this after the meeting," Taeil turns to smile at Dongyoung instead, who looks away immediately.

Dongyoung glares hard at Jaehyun, when he should really be glaring at Taeil instead, but he doesn't even want to look Taeil in the eye. He justifies this to himself,  _I mean, Jaehyun is partially at fault for even suggesting this._

"So, I suppose that is the end of your _amazing_  ideas right, Mr. Vice-Chairperson?" Dongyoung narrows his eyes at Jaehyun, who nods with a mocking smile.

"Okay, then. There is only one thing on my agenda today and that is: we need a secretary. I've thought of the jobscope, which would be something like filing papers, taking minutes and most importantly, helping us clinch gigs on behalf of the club. It's difficult for us as individual students to find gigs, but with the name of the club, we can be more convincing and from there, we can even build a reputation for the club. So, we need a secretary-cum-outreach personnel."

Taeil raises his eyebrows, "Really? Will you really trust the secretary to do all that, without you ending up doing everything by yourself because their work is not good enough?"

Jaehyun's jaw drops a little, because _damn, he is accurate_. Dongyoung doesn't know what to say, and he is kind of annoyed because how the fuck did Moon Taeil see through him so easily?!

"If the person proves himself or herself, I will. Or I have to, because I don't have time to do all that. Anyway, if there are no objections, let's hold an interview. If there's a suitable candidate, then good. Otherwise, we'll see how it goes."

Jaehyun and Taeil both nod, as Jaehyun types away on the laptop.

"Taeil-hyung?"

"Just one thing, my position. I don't think Student Conductor is the right title, we are not a choir nor an orchestra. There is nothing to conduct. In fact, I think we should hire an instructor because I can only tell them what's wrong, I can't tell them how to fix it. I can't help the members improve. Any senior member can do the same as me."

Jaehyun shakes his head, "Hyung, you are here because you have a great ear for detail. Not everyone can do that! When something sounds off, you can immediately tell what it is."

Dongyoung agrees. That is perhaps the only thing he admires Taeil for, but of course, he'll never admit it in front of Taeil. "We can't hire an instructor anyway, we don't have enough budget for that. The school won't give us more until the club exceeds 80 members. As for your title, we can change it to Vice Chairperson (Music) and Jaehyun can be Vice Chairperson (Events & Welfare) or something. Okay?"

Jaehyun grins at Dongyoung, "And that's why you and Taeil-hyung should put up an amazing _duet_  performance so we can finally have enough members to hire an instructor! Meeting's over, right? Happy discussing!"

Jaehyun quickly saves the word document and pushes the laptop back to Dongyoung, and disappears from the room even before Dongyoung could say bye.

Dongyoung feels his body stiffen as he realises he is left alone with Taeil, and he looks everywhere except at Taeil who is right beside him. The room is silent except for the intermittent sounds from the air-conditioner. It is so silent that Dongyoung cannot even breathe normally.

"So... for our duet?"

Dongyoung jumps a little at the sudden voice, but maintains his composure, "We can each think of a song and discuss another day. The performance is still 3 months away."

Taeil hums in agreement.

The room falls back into an awkward silence, and Dongyoung can't stand it, so he finds a random topic.

"Sicheng came by just now. He said you told him to look for me," he says, still looking away from Taeil.

Taeil rests his head on his hand, elbow on the table. He shrugs, "You're the chairperson, you know better than me." He doesn't take his eyes off Dongyoung's face.

Dongyoung's eyes start to wander hastily, still avoiding Taeil's direction. He thinks of an unnecessarily mean comeback, "Of course I should know better than you, of all people."

It is once again silent, and Dongyoung thinks either of them is going to have to leave this room in the next 30 seconds or else it will become too awkward and-

And precisely because the room is so silent, it makes Taeil's voice sound louder than ever.

"Why do you treat me as a rival? What have I done to warrant that?"

Dongyoung is slightly taken aback, and swallows hard. _I can't lose to him, I can't run away._ He forces himself to turn to look at Taeil, in the eye. For some reason, his armour always melts too easily in Taeil's presence. He makes a mental note to make his armour stronger.

"You always like to point out my weaknesses."

That wasn't necessarily true, but it was the best thing Dongyoung could come up with on the spot. He doesn't really know the answer to Taeil's question, but he reckons what he said was not totally wrong either. (Somewhere deep down, he knows that he always feels weak in front of Taeil because Taeil reads him like an open book. Taeil is the only person who knows him inside out, but yet he knows nothing about Taeil. But that is something he can never admit, not even to himself.)

Taeil should rightfully feel wronged since he's never done that, but he still apologises, "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

Dongyoung feels weird. He feels uncomfortable. He feels like he just lost to Taeil. (And he'll never admit that it's because Taeil knows his accusation was not true but he plays along so Dongyoung doesn't feel embarrassed.) This feeling of losing is fueling his competitive spirit. He wants to win Taeil once and for all. If Taeil can see him inside out, then he must also be able to bring out a side of Taeil that no one has seen. A Taeil that is not calm and quiet like he always is.

"We can settle this once and for all," Dongyoung suggests as he stands up.

Taeil stands up too, and looks up into Dongyoung's eyes with a soft smile. "And how shall we do that?"

Dongyoung keeps his eyes locked with Taeil's. "A competition."

Taeil doesn't break the eye contact either. "Sure, but I'll let you know first: you'll never win against me."

Taeil's smile widens. The room is dimly lit, thanks to the two fused ceiling lights. Dongyoung looks down at Taeil. This is perhaps the closest Dongyoung has ever been to Taeil. Taeil looks _so pretty_  like this, with his soft, un-styled light brown hair, the way his eyelashes flutter when he blinks, the faint shadows around his features, his pink lips that just look so soft and-

Dongyoung can feel his heartbeat accelerating. His heart is beating so loudly he's sure Taeil can hear it. He wants to convince himself that it's the adrenaline pumping from the idea if having a competition, but he knows it's otherwise. Just a few moments ago, he had no concrete idea of how he can get Taeil riled up. He still doesn't, but now he's found how he _wants_ to do it.

"We'll see," Dongyoung barely breathes out before he dives straight for Taeil's lower lip, and starts sucking on it. Taeil's eyes widen in shock, and he doesn't move his lips, but neither does he push Dongyoung away. It only takes another few seconds, however, for Taeil to react and kiss him back. Dongyoung slides a hand down Taeil's waist, and smirks into the kiss in satisfaction.

"How's that? I won," Dongyoung whispers into Taeil's ear, and lightly sucks on his earlobe.

Taeil pushes Dongyoung back to look him in the eyes and show his signature smile.

"Is that it?" he taunts and shoves Dongyoung against the wall. Dongyoung stumbles backward and he can't even protest as Taeil kisses him and shoves his tongue in. He subconsciously wraps his hand around Taeil's nape because _fuck, his tongue works wonders_ and can't help the moan that escapes him when Taeil grinds against him.

Taeil breaks the kiss and shoots a glance at Dongyoung's arm, disappearing behind his shoulder. Dongyoung immediately retracts his arm, flustered, but Taeil is already grinning at him, patting his cheek. Dongyoung slaps his hand away and Taeil sighs pretentiously, " _Dongyoungie_ , you still have a long way to go."

Dongyoung glares at Taeil, eyes burning. _I'm supposed to make Taeil-hyung a mess, not myself! I need to get my shit together and up my game._

"It's not over. I'm gonna make you beg," Dongyoung growls.

Taeil only blinks prettily at Dongyoung, and answers without hesitation, "Sure, make me." _So clueless, but so confident. Cute,_ he silently chuckles to himself.

"Shirt off," Dongyoung commands, and Taeil does it, almost obedient. He isn't really built, but he's gained some definition lately from working out.

Taeil tilts his head a little to expose more of his neck, as if anticipating what Dongyoung is about to do. Any other day, Dongyoung would have been suspicious of Taeil being so submissive but right now, his mind is so clouded with desire (to win or for Taeil, he doesn't know) that he gladly takes whatever is handed to him.

Dongyoung sucks mercilessly on a spot just below Taeil's jawline, leaving a nice, red mark that was sure to stay for at least a week. He licks the spot twice before pulling back to admire his work of art. He then moves down to lightly kiss the collarbones, while one of his hands holds the waist and the other caresses the inner thigh. He makes sure to leave another hickey each on the collarbone and chest as he goes lower, and lower.

He stops as he kneels in front of Taeil's crotch. Taeil is wearing a pair of white skinny jeans, wrapping tightly around his thick thighs. Dongyoung takes a moment to admire the view, before his hands start to roam around and leaving kisses all around, everywhere except his dick. He occasionally "accidentally" brushes against Taeil's dick, hoping to get some reaction from him.

He concludes that Taeil is probably a statue that never reacts to anything, as he unbuttons and unzips the white pants that do not fall even when unzipped because it's so tight against Taeil's thighs. Taeil doesn't make a single sound even when Dongyoung starts stroking his dick.

Dongyoung is almost certain that his conclusion was right, until he licks the tip of Taeil's dick. Taeil lets out a low groan, actually surprising the both of them. Dongyoung smirks to himself, _finally some progress._

"Hyung~ You need to tell me what you want," he prompts, giving the most innocent look he can manage.

"I..." Taeil seemingly hesitates as he bites his lower lip, "I- I want to pleasure you."

Dongyoung's eyes widen and his heart rate soars exponentially. He feels his blood rushing to his groin at the way Taeil spoke - so sultrily, so _submissive_ , that he cannot find it in him to do anything but nod his head.

He takes the bait.

He stands up and Taeil pushes him against the wall again. Taeil wastes no time in taking off Dongyoung's pants and boxers, revealing his proudly standing dick. He haphazardly smears spit on his hand as lubricant, and starts jerking Dongyoung off. He busies himself with placing kisses along Dongyoung's jawline and neck, while his hand slowly picks up its pace.

Dongyoung's breathing gets quicker and heavier, and his body is heating up at the pleasure. He is already in a worse state of mess than anyone has ever seen him, including his roommate Jaehyun, but it only gets worse when he feels something wet and warm engulfing his dick. Taeil expertly alternates between the sucking and licking, making Dongyoung close his eyes, roll his head back and release a series of moans.

He looks down to see Taeil taking him so well, so prettily, causing his dick to twitch. He sees stars when Taeil goes even further to swallow around his dick, drawing out a breathless "Taeil-hyung" from him. (He doesn't hear it, but Taeil softly whines when he hears Dongyoung moan his name.)

Dongyoung can feel the end coming, he's so close already, just a few more strokes-

But his road to the climax is harshly blocked by the tight grip of Taeil's fingers around the base of his dick.

His eyes snap open and he sees Taeil smiling sweetly at him. "You need to tell me what you want~" Taeil sing-songs as he blinks.

Dongyoung's jaw drops in disbelief. He cannot believe he didn't see this coming. He should at least have predicted this much when Taeil said he wanted to pleasure him. He is disappointed in himself for losing his rational mind so easily.

He could think a lot more things, but the matter at hand - in Taeil's hands, actually - was more pressing.

"Come on, Dongyoungie~" Taeil taunts and he blows air at the tip of Dongyoung's dick.

Dongyoung groans loudly. He desperately needs to cum, but that would mean giving up his pride. He shouldn't give up something so important for a moment of indulgence. 

He really shouldn't, but when Taeil takes his dick into his mouth again, his mind shuts down - his body just needs to release.

"Please, hyung..." He hates how pathetic he sounds, but it was too much to bear.

Taeil, however, shows no signs of relaxing his grip on Dongyoung's dick.

"I really need to cum," he pleads.

Taeil looks up at him, "So what can I do for you?"

Dongyoung feels like crying, but he's sure Taeil will never let go unless he says it.

"Please let me cum," Dongyoung whines, almost a whisper.

Taeil raises an eyebrow, "What? I can't hear you. You weren't so soft when you were moaning just now."

Dongyoung wants to dig a hole and hide in there forever- but that can wait. He squeezes his eyes shut and with whatever voice he can muster up, "Taeil-hyung, please let me cum!"

Before he could even register anything, Taeil has already loosened his grip and started to suck him off again.

It doesn't take long before he watches as ropes of his cum paint Taeil's face. As he comes down from his high, his breath hitches when he sees Taeil wipe off some of the cum and licks it off his finger.

After cleaning his face with a tissue and putting on his clothes properly, Taeil smiles smugly at Dongyoung and slides two fingers up Dongyoung's chin teasingly, "Told you, you'll never win against me."

Dongyoung's face flushes as the memories of him ending up begging flood his mind. He stammers a retort, "W-what? N-nobody will know what happened here. Happy walking around with that hickey." He manages to look nonchalant, or at least he thinks so.

Taeil only smirks, and walks out.

 

-

 

Dongyoung is walking down the corridor with Jaehyun, and he can only once again conclude that fate likes to mess with people. You always meet the people you want to avoid.

He can't not notice the light brown-haired even from afar. _Quite bold_ , he thinks as he sees no scarf, no turtleneck, no concealer, no nothing. Heck, he can even see the hickey from meters away.

He mentally prepares himself to make a jab at Taeil as soon as the other two greet each other.

"Oh, Taeil-hyung! Look at that huge hickey you have there! I _wonder who_ gave it to you," Dongyoung smirks. At least he managed his facade this time. He expects Taeil to just ignore him, get flustered, or smirk at him as he always does.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Funny you'd ask, the person who begged me to let him cum last night," Taeil casually replies, walking off.

Jaehyun's eyes widen comically as he scans Dongyoung accusingly. Dongyoung's face burns, ears on fire. He can't believe he just lost to Taeil _again_.

"You?! And Taeil-hyung?! Fucked?!!"

Dongyoung rolls his eyes and starts walking, Jaehyun follows behind him.

"Well, they do say there's a thin line between love and hate, but I didn't think you would fuck Taeil-hyung of all people, honestly."

"Jaehyun. Shut the fuck up. Or else I'll make sure you can't walk tomorrow-"

"Um hyung, are you that horny? I'm not into-"

Dongyoung snaps, "Do you really want broken legs? Seriously? We didn't fuck!"

Jaehyun shrugs, "If you say so."

Dongyoung rolls his eyes again, but he is actually grateful that Jaehyun is not a busybody and drops the matter.

 

-

 

Dongyoung pinches himself hard, as he tries his utter best to concentrate in his linear algebra class. He isn't sleepy, like 90% of the other students in the lecture theatre. He isn't sleepy, nor is he bored. But his mind is preoccupied with something- or _someone_ \- that has been haunting him for the past week already. That _someone_  just refuses to leave his mind, no matter how hard he tries to think of something else.

He sinks into his seat and sighs.

He's fucked.

He really shouldn't have had that _competition_  at all. Worst idea ever. The only good thing he got out of it was a wronged spirit invading his mind every 10 minutes. Great. Amazing.

His eyes also happen to have become obsessed over _someone_ , it's almost like he's developed a " _someone_ radar" that locks on to the target whenever _someone_  is in his field of vision.

Yep. Definitely fucked.

 

-

 

Dongyoung is sitting in Sicheng and Taeil's shared room, giving tips on singing to Sicheng like he'd promised earlier.

"You're doing fine, Sicheng-ah. You just need to work on your breathing technique, remember to use your diaphragm," Dongyoung reassures him.

It is completely unnecessary, but Dongyoung stretches his arm across Sicheng's back to wrap his hand around his waist and pats him. He puts on his best smile and says, "I think you can start coming for our sessions already, you will come, right?"

Sicheng smiles and nods, but Dongyoung's attention is directed at Taeil, who is sitting at his table with a cup of tea, flipping a magazine, not giving two shits about what the other two are doing (or the overly affectionate touches they share). As he has been doing for the entire 45 minutes Dongyoung has been in the room.

Dongyoung says bye to Sicheng, and walks straight out of the room without sparing a glance or a word for Taeil.

 

-

 

The members of the singing club sit in a semicircle, ready for the showcase period. It's Sicheng's first ever session, so Dongyoung takes extra good care of him by explaining everything they do. It's also the first time they're allowing group showcases, so Dongyoung partners up with Sicheng to ease him into the system.

It's their turn to showcase, and they stand in front of the semicircle. Dongyoung whispers words of encouragement in Sicheng's ears, a little too close for comfort, making one of their members, Yuta, tease them, "What are you two doing? Are you kissing?!" 

The other members gasp and go "ooooh~", but Dongyoung only looks at Taeil. Taeil glances at them for just a second, before looking away, expression unchanged, uninterested.

Dongyoung's heart sinks.

 

-

 

Dongyoung's plan was not working. It should have worked, according to his grand plan. Taeil would get jealous and approach him first. Unless... Taeil is not at all interested in him.

_That must be it. What's the point in doing all that when he doesn't even like me?! Fucking Moon Taeil. Everything was just a game to him. Every fucking thing. He must be happy, he's winning everything. And me? I can never win. Can't win the game, can't win him over. Such a fucking loser._

There is no point in continuing this game anymore, he decides. _I'm just going to continue losing anyway._

-

 

He stops trying to provoke Taeil in any way at all.

He stops making sarcastic jabs at Taeil. Instead, he only gives Taeil the polite smile he gives his acquaintances when he happens to see them.

He still makes a little skinship with Sicheng here and there, because Sicheng is a dongsaeng he really cherishes, but it's no longer as excessive as before.

Still, the spirit in his mind never goes away and his " _someone_  radar" is still very much active. _Fucking pathetic emotions._  

Even now, as they sit through the showcase for the day. Taeil is up with Yuta and Sicheng, singing a soft ballad together. _Fuck, even his voice is beautiful._ Dongyoung is sure that even his ears are going to develop a " _someone_ radar" very soon.

He watches as amidst the applause, Taeil gives Yuta a hug and ruffles Sicheng's hair.

If only Taeil would do that to him.

 

-

 

He is back in the club's room again, alone, having just met Taeil to confirm the song choice for their duet. Everything went fine. It was just a short discussion and they ended up going with Taeil's suggestion. Just two weeks ago, Dongyoung would have insisted that his own choice was better. But now, he's let go of everything and gotten rid of his rival mindset.

Taeil must be happy. He doesn't have to deal with Dongyoung's childish rivalry nonsense anymore, right? No more annoying sarcastic comebacks, no more unnecessarily competitive, immature person. Person who thinks he hated Taeil for making him feel lousy, when Taeil's only fault was understanding him too well. Person who even kissed Taeil, but doesn't even have the guts to talk things out with him. Person who can only sulk from afar, because he can't let go of his fucking man pride. Person who thought that Taeil was surely interested in him, but was terribly wrong.

_Pathetic loser. Useless, just like emotions._

Tears begin to flow down his face, as he beats himself up with his thoughts. He shouldn't have let himself become so blinded by emotions. If only he could turn back time to before he discovered his feelings for _someone_. Things were so much simpler back then.

It's impossible to ignore this _someone_ , though. Not when he's so beautiful. Not when he walks through the walls you have painstakingly built over the years to protect yourself, like it's thin air.

Not when he's the only one to truly make his way into your heart.

Dongyoung can't do anything. He may be intelligent, but he is clueless in the aspect of love. He may be hardworking, but even he knows that feelings cannot be forced. He can't make it work, and he can't let it go.

He can only hope that every drop of his tears takes away a fraction of his unwarranted feelings for _someone._

Suddenly, the door clicks open and his eyes shoot up.

"Why are you crying?"

Dongyoung immediately wipes his tears and denies, "I-I'm not, it's nothing." He stands up and pretends he needs to leave.

As he walks towards the chair to pick up his backpack, suddenly a pair of arms wrap around his waist, stopping him in his tracks. His eyes widen in shock and his heart starts to beat very quickly.

Taeil rests his head on Dongyoung's shoulder, saying, "Don't lie to me. You've been so down recently, you don't even disturb me anymore."

Taeil's soft voice accompanied by the vibrations he sends through his body makes Dongyoung's tears flow again, against his will, and he doesn't even know why.

Dongyoung hurriedly wipes away his tears and tries to muffle his sobs with his sweater, "It's really nothing-"

Taeil steps in front of Dongyoung and hugs him from the front, left hand caressing his head and right hand patting his back. 

Dongyoung is more than shocked by everything, and he's never been more confused. He should probably push Taeil away, but he can't. He wants this. He decides to fuck everything and picks up the courage to wrap his arms around Taeil.

"Don't cry, Dongyoungie. You're making me sad too, you know?"

Dongyoung manages to fake a laugh, "You're funny, hyung. Why would you be sad?"

"How can I be happy when you're not?" Taeil asks, his tone sounding serious.

Dongyoung lightly gasps as he doubts his hearing. _Did that mean- no, better not get my hopes up again._

Reluctantly, he separates himself from Taeil. Still putting up a strong front, "Why not? Don't make fun of me, hyung. Not now."

Taeil looks into Dongyoung's eyes with the softest, most sincere look he's ever seen. He holds Dongyoung's face and rubs off his tears with his thumb.

"I'm not making fun of you. My heart hurts seeing you so down..." Taeil hesitates for a moment.

"I- no- I think... I think I like you."

Dongyoung's heart stops for a moment. He literally cannot believe his ears. His self-protection instinct kicks in, and he puts on his armour once again, playing it off as a joke, "Now is really not the time for games, hyung. Are you sober? Do you even know what you're saying? Do you remember your mother's name?"

Taeil doesn't even smile at his lousy attempt, and frowns, "I know what I'm saying. How can I convince you that I'm serious?"

Dongyoung assesses the expression on Taeil's face. Taeil looks serious, but he has his doubts. He contemplates for a while, and then he stops. He remembers how much of a loser he felt like, not having the guts to say anything to Taeil. He doesn't want to be a loser anymore. In fact, he doesn't have much to lose anyway. _Fuck it._

"You didn't get jealous or anything when I was all over Sicheng. You didn't even _look_ at us," Dongyoung spits out, but regretting it immediately because he sounds so petty and Taeil is laughing out loud.

"Is that it? Really? I didn't look precisely because I was jealous. Why would I look at something that makes me feel annoyed?" Taeil explains as he squishes Dongyoung's cheeks between his palms.

Dongyoung forcefully removes Taeil's hands and huffs, "Hyung! I'm not a kid! And how would I know you're not just playing games with me, like that night?"

"That night was a game, because you said it was a competition. We're not playing a game now, right?"

Dongyoung's eyes widen in surprise. In his mind, everything is a competition. He always thinks of how to win the game, but he's never stopped to think that maybe, not everything is about winning and losing.

Taeil's tone shifts into a more playful one, "I'm not you, Dongyoungie~ I don't go around playing games with people."

Dongyoung groans. Taeil just read his mind again. "Stop it, hyung. I already feel pathetic enough," he pouts. "I wanted you to approach me first because I felt like confessing first would be losing the game, so I did all that skinship but you didn't give a fuck. So I thought, of course, you probably didn't like a loser like me."

Taeil nods as he shifts to give Dongyoung a back hug, "And you were wrong, clearly."

Dongyoung whines, "Ah hyung! See, in the end I should technically win because you came to me first, but I still feel like a loser. I wasn't brave enough to admit it."

Taeil faces him and just gives him his signature shit-eating grin, saying, "See, I told you that you'll never win against me~"

Dongyoung raises an eyebrow, "But I won your _heart_ , didn't I?" and winks.

"True, but the reverse is also true, so it's a tie," Taeil smiles and winks back.

"Fuck. But really, how did you know that, y'know, you won my heart?"

"I guessed that much. I mean, you wouldn't have kissed me out of the blue just to settle some rivalry if you didn't like me, right? There were so many other ways you could win me. Although I must say... You picked the wrong category if you really wanted to win," Taeil smirks.

"Fuck you!"

 

-

 

Jaehyun sits beside Dongyoung and scrutinizes him intently. He then looks at Taeil who is seated opposite, and back at Dongyoung. He narrows his eyes and sticks his face uncomfortably near to Dongyoung's.

"What's going on between you and Taeil-hyung?"

Dongyoung raises his eyebrows and looks away from Jaehyun's accusing eyes, "What do you mean what?"

Jaehyun's face hovers around Dongyoung's, not backing away, "You two are looking at each other excessively."

Dongyoung walks away from the annoying pest, and makes up a terribly lousy story, "We're having a staring competition."

Jaehyun smirks and goes after Dongyoung, "Staring competition? You expect me to believe that?"

Dongyoung clicks his tongue in annoyance, "See, I lost because of you!"

Jaehyun burst out in laughter, making Dongyoung frown and ask, "What?"

"Nice try, hyung. I already know because Taeil-hyung told me," Jaehyun continues laughing, while Dongyoung stares at Taeil with a betrayed look on his face.

Taeil shrugs and mouths something to Dongyoung.

"I always win."

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever NCT fic!! Also my first fic on ao3 (if y'all want to, y'all can check out my keo/sulay fics on aff under the username jungbros) (shameless advertising lol).
> 
> I used Jaehyun instead of Yoonoh because I believe that's what most people call him. Also I can't believe I wrote Taeil like this lmao why
> 
> And in the first half I felt like I was writing a play or smth bc it was so much dialogue lol


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